Nail.



' Patented Dec. 26, I899. W. L. HORNE.

N AIL.

(Application filed. July 23, 1899.)

(No Model.)

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INVENTUR:

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WINSLOW L. HORNE, OF MALDEN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE NEW PROCESS COATING COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

NAIL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 639,984, dated December 26, 1899-.

Application filed July 28, 1899. Serial No- 725,397. (No model.)

[a all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WINsLow L. HORNE, of Malden, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Nails, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object to increase the holding power of nails formed with an ordinary smooth metal surface; and it consists in a nail roughened and coated with a salt of iron by the application of a suitable acid.

Of the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents an elevation of an ordinary wire nail having a smooth metal surface. Fig. 2 represents a similar view of said nail after being treated in accordance with my invention to roughen its surface.

A designates the nail, which in Fig. 1 is represented as having an ordinary smooth metal surface 2. In Fig. 2 the nail is represented as having a roughened surface 3, produced by treating the ordinary smooth-surfaced nail with a suitable acid, such as dilute sulfuric acid, preferably by dipping the nail in a quantity of the acid or by pouring the acid over the nail. The acid attacks the metal of the nail and decomposes its surface, the decomposition being allowed to proceed untila thin coating of a salt of iron has been formed on the surface of the nail. In the case of an iron nail treated with sulfuric acid a coating of sulfate of iron will be formed on the surface of the nail, which will cause the nail to adhere very firmly to the wood or other substance into which it is driven.

By treating nails in quantity with a suit-' able acid a very simple, cheap, and expeditious method is provided for roughening their surfaces to increase their holding power.

I do not confine myself to the use of sulfuric acid for treating nails, although this acid, being cheap, easily obtainable, and rapid in its corrosive action on the metals of of which nails are ordinarily composed will be found to be a desirable reagent to employ in producing and carrying out my invention.

I claim- A nail roughened and coated with a salt of iron by the application of a suitable acid.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WINSLOW L. HORNE. Witnesses:

C. F. BROWN, E. BATCHELDER. 

